Page 106 of The Fall Affair

I opened to find Matteo standing there in jeans and a worn navy sweater, his hands shoved into his front pockets. His eyes dropped, taking in my charcoal suit—at least the top half of it, because I had sweatpants on my bottom half.

I smiled. “I have a video call in a few minutes. I’m cheating since they won’t see my pants.”

“Ah. That explains it.”

“I had to dust it off. I’m not even sure why I brought it.”

He smiled faintly. “Another call about the case you’re working on?”

I hesitated, and a couple of seconds passed as I debated nodding and letting the little white lie pass like nothing. But I didn’t want to do that to him again.

“No,” I said quietly. “It’s with a law firm in New York. They’re interested in hiring me.”

I watched it hit him, just a flicker that passed on his face. “I didn’t know you’d decided to go back.” His voice was even.

“I haven’t.” I shook my head. “I…haven’t figured out what I’m doing yet. But they reached out, and I figured why not hear what they have to say?”

He nodded once and started to turn away. “I hope it goes well for you.”

“Matteo…”

He turned back. “It’s okay.”

But it wasn’t. He turned and walked halfway down the path before I found my voice. “Whose place tonight?”

He stopped but didn’t look back. “I think I’m going to stay by myself tonight.”

Chapter 35

Matteo

6 years ago

“DON’T GO.”

Izzy stopped packing and looked up.

I’d never said those words before. “I’m asking you not to go.”

She sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. “We already paid for the class.”

I shrugged. “I don’t care. We’ll lose da money if dey won’t give us a refund. I’d rather have my wife home than a couple extra euro.”

“But I want to go, Matteo. Rishikesh is where yoga has its spiritual roots. I’ll never be a true coach if I don’t learn how to meditate, not just lead a flow class.”

“Can’t you teach da stretchy classes without flying to India for six weeks to learn how to breathe?” I said. “You already know how to do dat.”

She frowned. “Is that what you think this is? Something stupid?”

“No.” I hesitated, rubbing the back of my neck. “Every time you leave, I get dis knot in my chest. Like one day you’re not going to come back.”

Her expression softened. “Matteo, I’m always going to come back to you. You’re my home. That doesn’t change because I want to understand myself better.”

I looked into her eyes for a long time before whispering, “Don’t go. Please.”

“I have to.”

“No, you don’t. You want to. There’s a difference between need and want. We need to breathe. We need to eat. You want to go to India.”